In the Fairmount section of
Philadelphia, located at Twenty First Street and Fairmount
Avenue sits Eastern State Penitentiary, one of the most foreboding,
gloomy and sinister looking structures on earth. Its designer and
architect, John Haviland who
with the erection of EASTERN STATEbecame
the foremost authority on prison construction, was a major influence on
the building of over 300 penal facilities worldwide.

NO, THIS IS NOT A MEDIEVAL CASTLE.
IT IS A PRISON!

Its basic design was known as the “Radial Plan,” which was and still is
a fairly simple and secure design that offered both isolation for
individual inmates, but at the same time each wing could house a large
number of confined prisoners. Essentially, if viewed from above,
the interior of the penitentiary resembled a huge bicycle wheel, with
the center control being the hub and each of the housing wings a
spoke. The design provided those manning the central control an
extended line of sight down the long corridors of locked cells.

EASTERN STATE PENITENTIARY
was the first of its kind, but certainly not the last. In fact,
the construction of Trenton State
Prison, another of Haviland’s projects, began
shortly after the
completion of EASTERN STATE.Unlike
the Philadelphia facility which closed in 1971, Trenton
Statestill houses men in
cells that were built in 1833. Not only is this hard to imagine,
but one cell now houses up to four inmates, all of whom are serving a
life term or more. Men spend decades of their sentences in these
extremely harsh surroundings.

AN HONOR ROLL IS ON DISPLAY WHICH
ACKNOWLEDGES
PRISONERS OF EASTERN
STATE WHO DIED FOR THEIR COUNTRY DURING WORLD WAR ONE. THEY ARE
LISTED BY THEIR INMATE NUMBERS AND NOT THEIR NAMES; A BARBER
CHAIR IN WHICH INMATES AND GUARDS ALIKE RECEIVED A TRIM; AND CELL BLOCK
FOUR.

A RUIN OF A FORMER CELL; STANDARD
ACCOMMODATIONS; AND THE ELEGANT, EXPOSED INFRASTRUCTURE OF A COMPOUND
ARCHWAY BY JOHN HAVILAND.

In New
York City, Havilandbuilt
an
equally
forbidding detention center that became infamous for its
misery, violence and dehumanizing conditions. The Manhattan House of Detention
became known ominously as “The Tombs.” Befittingly the elevated
walkway used to walk prisoners from the courthouse adjacent to “The
Tombs” became known as “The Bridge of Sighs.” The design of this
particular lock-up differs from EASTERNand
Trenton in
that it looks more like an Egyptian crypt. Thus, The Tombs is
sometimes referred as a “Mausoleum for the Living.”

In all of Haviland’s designs,
although created to foster rehabilitation, the reality was harshness,
desolation and an ineffective method of incarceration. The early
penal
philosophy, which was wrongly attributed to the Quakers, was that
separation, silence and penitence would somehow be curative. Not
surprisingly these practices led many prisoners to madness and cured
nothing. There was also the prevailing theory that if the prison
environment was sufficiently menacing and inhospitable, no soul would
ever wish to end up there.

Interestingly enough, many of the great intellectuals of the eighteenth
and early nineteenth century, including Dr. Benjamin Rush and even Ben
Franklin, struggled greatly with the difficult issues of criminality,
mental illness and how to treat those human beings that were not
considered to be “normal.” In much of the early prison doctrine,
there
was indeed a heavy emphasis on isolation and atonement. So when EASTERN STATEwas
created,
its purpose was to not only to segregate society’s outcasts,
but to also rehabilitate them. Prisoners were separated from each
other at all costs, not because it was believed that they would harm
each other, but so that they would not establish relationships that
would extend beyond their period of incarceration. It was thought that
this practice would encourage good behavior and better serve to protect
the community from future criminal activity. As criminals were obviously
not voluntarily sitting in waiting room furniture to inhabit the place,
they were not slowing their crimes either.

During a recent personal tour of EASTERN
STATE
conducted by our very gracious and knowledgeable guide Jessie Sarnoff
we spent time in a number of areas that are popular with the thousands
of people that visit the prison each year: the rotunda, the exercise
yard, death row and the cells that housed Al Capone and Willie Sutton.
As we walked its echoing dark corridors we talked about the notorious
escapes from the fortress and the history of riots including the one in
1961 ¾ when in corrections parlance “we lost the jail,” which is
when
the prisoners actually take over the facility and it has to be taken
back by force (Attica would later become an infamous example of
this).
I was equally fascinated by the condition of the building. During the
period of its closure from 1971 through the early 1990’s, nature had
begun to reclaim the decaying structure. The sight of tree roots
growing through the crumbling cell walls gives a Gothic horror feel to
this already eerie and unnerving place.

AL CAPONE

As someone who has spent a good number of years working in corrections,
including a stint at the legendary Trenton
State Prison
as a New Jersey Parole Board Hearing Officer, my interest was piqued by
the less well known facts and stories that are always found in the
prison environment. Not all was as bad as it seems at EASTERN.
One story was that some of the veteran guards would come in on the
weekends to have the inmate barbers cut their hair. Not all that
unusual, but some accounts indicate that the guards brought their young
children who would play with the inmates as dad got his haircut.
There
were the anecdotal stories and old pictures testifying to the fact that
guards, inmates and family members of prison workers decorated the
prison for Christmas. And over the years, as in many prisons,
inmates
were known to put their own lives at jeopardy to save a guard’s life
during times of disturbances. Apparently, the Quakers that helped to
inspire the founding of EASTERN
STATE
may have been correct in their belief that “The Light” shines in
everyone - sometimes it is just harder to see, especially from the
darkest reaches of the human soul.

THE IDEA OF SOLITARY
CONFINEMENT TOWARD THE GOAL OF REHABILITATION, ALTHOUGH SUPPORTED BY
THE QUAKER SOCIETY OF FRIENDS, DID NOT ORIGINATE WITH THEM, NOR
DID IT WORK PARTICULARLY WELL. MANY MISBEHAVIORS ARE THE RESULT OF
MENTAL ILLNESS AND THE ISOLATION ONLY SERVED TO EXACERBATE ITS EFFECTS.

AL CAPONE'S FIRST
INCARCERATION WAS IN EASTERN STATE. THE INFAMOUS GANGSTER WAS CONVICTED
OF CARRYING A CONCEALED HANDGUN INTO A MOVIE THEATER. DESPITE HIS
CRIMINAL NATURE, HIS CELEBRITY AFFORDED HIM COMFORTS THAT MOST OF THE
INMATES WERE DENIED.

Photograph
by Ed Petersen
Photograph
by
Ed Petersen

ARCHAEOLOGIST
JESSE
SARNOFF (LEFT) AND THE AUTHOR (A FORMER CORRECTIONS OFFICIAL)
DISCUSS THE HISTORY OF OUR PENAL SYSTEM.

MUCH OF THE PRISON'S FOOD WAS GROWN ON
PREMISE BY INMATES TRAINED IN AGRICULTURE AND GARDENING.

After
our tour, we decided to view the prison from an entirely new
perspective, so we headed over to Jack’s
Firehouse, a unique tavern and eatery located directly
across
from EASTERN STATE.
From my vantage point at the bar, I could view the massive front wall
and entry gate. I thought about those men who were transported to this
horrifying place by horse and wagon, doomed to spend a long time in the
bowels of that hellish building. I further mused about the rather
interesting juxtaposition that is occurring here. Just a short while
ago I was discussing with our guide Jessie about the need for “body
bars” inside EASTERN. The
metal grate-like protection over the lower flats of the wing that was
used to protect against bodies being thrown off the tiers and
potentially hitting guards and inmates who happened to be passing by
down below. As the prison degenerated over the years into an
overcrowded, antiquated and often violent place, the prison
administration felt the need to implement these additional security
measures. As I sit back on my comfortable stool, hoisting an
exceptional offering from a local brewery, I come to appreciate the
stark difference between the bars on this side of Fairmount Ave. as
opposed to those on the other.

OVER THE YEARS, EASTERN STATE
DEGENERATED INTO A CRAMMED AND VIOLENT PLACE. BODY BARS PROTECTED OTHER
INMATES AND GUARDS BELOW FROM UNFORTUNATE PRISONERS WHO WERE THROWN
FROM THE UPPER TIERS DURING ALTERCATIONS.

The following week I would return to Jack’s.
Across the street there was an abundance of abnormal and perhaps even
paranormal activity afoot. The preparations for “Terror Behind the Walls,” the
prison’s yearly haunted house spectacular were nearing completion. And
at the same time, the cast and crew from Ghost Hunters, the extremely
popular
cable show, were rapping up production for an upcoming episode. I have
seen previous segments filmed at EASTERN
STATE,
and
the evidence presented might convince event the most ardent skeptic.
After all, this place has perpetuated a most unhappy history, replete
with death, depravity and despair. By supernatural standards this piece
of Philadelphia real estate should be a ghost hunter’s utopia.

There are some profound ironies about EASTERN
STATE PENITENTIARY.Haviland’s
design has over time seems to have fulfilled the goal of providing a
somewhat monastic atmosphere. There is an unsettling serenity behind
these walls. During the Halloween season thousands will expend a good
amount of time and energy in order to experience a substantial dose of
terror within the confines of Eastern State. While for most of its
history men employed every means possible in order to escape the terror
of this place: bribery, weapons, tunnels, going over the wall and
hostage taking. Once caught, the prisoners would do their time in “The
Hole,” and then begin again the task of designing their deliverance
from the dark side of enlightenment.

THE FORMIDABLE CELL
WALLS WHICH WERE
SO EFFECTIVE AT KEEPING HUMAN BEINGS IN CAN NOT KEEP NATURE OUT. TREE
ROOTS ADD TO THE EERIE EXHIBITION.

JACK'S FIREHOUSE
IS A LIVELY,
ENGAGING PUB WHICH STANDS IN STARK CONTRAST TO THE IMPOSING AND
OVERWHELMING MONUMENT OF PUNISHMENT ACROSS THE STREET

EVERY YEAR DURING THE HALLOWEEN SEASON, EASTERN STATE
PUTS ON A
NIGHTTIME
"HAUNTED PRISON" SPECTACULAR INVOLVING ACTORS AND
SPECIAL EFFECTS GALORE. THE SHOW IS EXTREMELY POPULAR AND HELPS TO FUND
THE PENITENTIARY AS AN HISTORIC SITE. THESE GARGOYLES ARE PART OF THE
STAGING PROPERTIES FOR THE EVENT. THAT'S FRANK ON THE LEFT WITH
THE EXTENDED HAND AND HIS BUDDY ON THE RIGHT IS CARSON. WE ARE TOLD
THEY ARE MADE OUT OF DENSE STYROFOAM.EASTERN STATE ALSO
UNDERSTANDABLY ATTRACTS A NUMBER OF TRUE LIFE "GHOST HUNTERS," BOTH
CREDENTIALED AND SELF DESCRIBED.